


Lipstick and Leather

by barricadebastard, Smoltinypumpkinchild



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Fluff, Mutual Pining, Other, Pete wears makeup!!, Pining, idk how to tag lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-27 08:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8394937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barricadebastard/pseuds/barricadebastard, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoltinypumpkinchild/pseuds/Smoltinypumpkinchild
Summary: Pete owes Dani a favour, and what better way to pay it off than to let her experiment with makeup on him? Except the end result is nothing short of gorgeous, and poor Sonny can't handle it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Smoltinypumpkinchild](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smoltinypumpkinchild/gifts).



> ideas from smoltinypumpkinchild, who is honestly the BEST, god bless you

“You’re gonna look great,” Daniela promised as some sort of powder was applied to his cheeks. Pete had no idea what she was doing, and could only hope that she wasn’t planning on making him look like the local clown. “I promise.” 

“Sure, sure,” Pete grumbled, letting her manoeuvre his face into the angle she wanted. “Just hurry up.” 

If Pete had his way, he wouldn’t be sitting in the overstuffed chairs of the salon, with Daniela’s fake nails digging into his skin as she held his face still, and Carla and Vanessa sneaking not-so-subtle glances at him every few seconds. Pete had spent most of the week doing nothing, and now his fingers itched to paint, to draw, to do  _ anything  _ until his fingers were stained with all the colours of the rainbow and he could smile down at an end product with triumph and exhilaration. However, he had already promised Daniela that he would let her experiment on him, in exchange for his debts being wiped out.

“Remind me never to be indebted to you ever again,” he mumbled, barely moving his lips for fear of the powder falling into his mouth.

“Stop talking,” he was commanded, and he dutifully fell silent. 

He remained in that seat for another five minutes, unable to move and earning a swat to the back of his head every time he spoke. Daniela would apply something, frown, remove it, and then try a billion other products that seemed exactly the same to Pete. He had to admit, he admired her for being able to tell the difference between two foundations that looked almost exactly the same.

Carla walked past for the tenth time that day, but this time, instead of a fleeting glance, the box in her hand dropped to the floor and she froze, gaping. Pete squirmed in discomfort, as Daniela, too, stepped away to admire her work.

“Ay dios mio,” Carla exclaimed, advancing slowly. She looked like she couldn’t believe her eyes. “Pete?”

“How bad do I look?” he asked resignedly. 

“What’s  _ that  _ supposed to mean?” Daniela asked in an indignant tone. “You look  _ great,  _ I promise.” 

“It’s true,” Carla added. She stepped over the box, ignoring it in favour of admiring his face. He looked away, feeling awkward. He met Vanessa’s gaze across the room, and she gave him a double thumbs-up, as well as raising her eyebrows in surprise.

But Pete isn’t ready to believe anything he hasn’t seen with his own two eyes, so he pushes himself out of his seat and snatches the mirror that Daniela had insisted on keeping face down. He takes a deep breath before looking, only to have his breath taken away again.

He wasn’t gonna lie; he looked  _ good. _ His cheekbones were  _ popping,  _ and he turned his face slightly to admire the sharp line of the eyeliner framing his eyes. His eyes look bigger than usual, and brighter. He noted that his skin looked a lot smoother than it actually was, and the colouring was more even too. His eyebrows, something he had never paid much attention to before, had been neatened up, and his lashes were longer and thicker. The whole effect was topped off by the dark red lipstick that coated his lips. 

“You know what?” he announced, as the three girls crowded around the mirror. “I look dope as hell.” 

The three of them cheered simultaneously, and he couldn’t help but laugh. He liked the girls at the salon; as well as giving him the latest inside news on all the latest gossip, they were extremely laid-back and didn’t judge him, no matter what he told them. There was something therapeutic about regularly sitting in one of the chairs and letting out all his problems. Admittedly, it did result in the girls having way too much blackmail material on him, including his current crush, but it was worth it.

“Thanks, Dani,” he said, still admiring himself. He couldn’t get over how different he looked. “It’s amazing.” 

“I know it is,” Daniela told him, one hand on his shoulder. “You gotta admit, it’s a lot better then owing me ten dollars.”

Pete had to agree. It  _ had  _ ended up as a win-win situation for him, and he made sure to give the older woman a kiss when she tapped her cheek expectantly. He took pictures with all three of them, posing and pouting dramatically to make them laugh, before finally departing with a hug to each.

“Make sure to tell us about Sonny’s reaction!” Vanessa called out as he left. Pete moved his hand to cover his face, before remembering the makeup and aborting the movement at the last second.

“He’s gonna piss himself,” he heard Daniela cackle as he escaped.

Pete was ready to brush off their comments, as he always did, but the idea was... appealing. How would Sonny react to seeing his best friend in makeup? Would he hate it? Be disgusted? It seemed unlikely - Sonny spent a lot of time complaining about gender roles - but Vanessa's comment had planted a little seed in his mind...


	2. Chapter 2

Walking back home was somewhat of an experience. 

Pete had expected to be stared at. After all, it wasn’t all too common for guys to wear make-up as blatantly as he was, and the shade of lipstick was eye-catching, to say the least. It didn’t bother him too much. As he walked down the street, he made eye-contact with anyone who stared for more than a second, and that was enough to make them look away, visibly flustered at getting caught. On the flip side, some people were purposefully avoiding his gaze, and one woman that bumped into him immediately looked away when she saw his face, as though her eyes had been burned upon sight of his make-up. It was almost impossible to tell if she found it disgusting, or if she was desperate to not seem insensitive by staring. Pete brushed the incident off, and continued to make his way home. 

But seeing the varying reactions to his makeup made his mind wander to Sonny again, as it was wont to do nowadays. How would Sonny react? The girls at the salon had implied that he wouldn't be wholly opposed to it, but who knew? It was just as likely that Sonny would be disgusted, or would find it weird and begin to act awkward around him. The latter seemed to be more like Sonny. But then again, Pete knew that Sonny was a huge advocate for trans rights, and had seen him defend a trans girl from some strangers that had been mocking her for wearing makeup. The night had ended in a fistfight that Pete had to jump into to defend his friend, but it had clarified that Sonny was definitely not the type to hate someone for not following typical societal conventions. But she had been a  _ girl,  _ even if the strangers harassing her didn't see her as such, and Pete was a guy. Would that change his reaction?

After almost walking into a lamppost due to being too engrossed in his thoughts, he pushed his concerns away. Sonny wasn't going to see it anyway; Pete had already decided that, once he got home and had the chance to admire it a little more in the mirror, he was going to wipe it off and then maybe take a nap. Sonny would never know about Daniela's little experimentation with makeup. The last thing he needed was to endanger his closest friendship because of a little lipstick. 

The universe, apparently, had other plans. 

When Pete unlocked his door with no small amount of struggle - the lock had a habit of jamming recently and he had never gotten around to fixing it - he found a familiar person lounging on his sofa, feet kicked up on the armrest and head tilted to the side to watch the show that was currently being shown on Pete's tiny television. Well, shit. So much for Sonny never seeing Pete's makeup. He had possibly a two second time frame to walk back out again, and Sonny would hopefully be none the wiser-

“Oh, hey Pete,” Sonny said, finally ripping his gaze away from the television just as Pete was about to walk back out again. “I was waiting for you! I've been craving b-” He fell silent suddenly, and Pete had to bite back a sigh. Looks like the shitstorm he had been so desperately avoiding was heading directly his way. 

“Is that  _ makeup?” _

He could deny it. It wouldn't do much good, but that was still an option. 

“No,” Pete said as casually as his frantically beating heart would allow him. He risked a glance at the younger guy to see a skeptical look forming on his features. 

“So your lips are naturally that colour?”

“Yes?” Pete tried. He began to make his way to the kitchen, hoping to avoid the oncoming conversation, but Sonny hopped off the couch and trailed behind him, talking all the while. 

“It looks  _ great,”  _ he was saying enthusiastically. “I mean, I know you normally have great cheekbones but they're really _ popping,  _ you know? And excuse my gay, but that lipstick shade looks damn gorgeous on you. You should wear it more often. Did you colour in your eyebrows? Holy shit, I don't think I've ever noticed your eyebrows before. How did you learn to do makeup like that? I've never seen you wear it,  _ ever,  _ and now you just show up with professional level skills? Can you teach me?”

So. Looked like Pete didn't have to worry about Sonny's reaction anymore. Looking back, he didn't even know why he had been worried. Sonny was all for dismantling societal expectations, it made sense that he'd be all for guys wearing makeup. 

“I didn't do it,” Pete admitted, turning the kettle on. Sonny ignored the small, rickety chairs at the kitchen table and hopped onto the counter instead, feet dangling down. “I owed Daniela some money, and she said she'd wipe my slate clean if I let her do my makeup. She's been begging to experiment on me for a while.”

Sonny whistled. “Daniela's got some  _ skills,  _ man. You look hot.” Pete froze, hand pausing in midair as he was about to reach for the kettle. Sonny was calling him 'hot’? Had he looked in the mirror at all recently?

However, Sonny seemed to misunderstand Pete's surprise, and rushed to clarify, “I mean, not that you don't normally look hot, you always do-”

Wait, what?

“Shit, no, that's gay, um, you, uh, I don't know, man, you just look good, okay?”

After a moment in which Pete tried to process all of Sonny's word vomit, Sonny covered his face with his hands. So Sonny thought he was hot, huh? Pete began to laugh, his chest bubbling with amusement as he began to pour two cups of tea. There was something surreal about this situation, knowing that the guy Pete had been pining over pathetically for what seemed like forever thought he was hot, and now he was sitting on his kitchen counter, face covered in embarrassment. 

“Shut up,” Sonny grumbled. 

“Sorry,” Pete said sheepishly, still fighting to bite down the chuckles that threatened to burst through his mouth. “For what it's worth, I think you're hot too.”

When he said this, he had his back to Sonny, but if he hadn't, he would have seen his wide eyes and the blush that adorned his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that was gay
> 
> sorry for the extremely late and ridiculously short chapter, ive been dealing with some stuff recently but i think ive got my shit together enough to start writing again!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> y'all know whats gonna happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! it's been SO long since this was updated and since lafayettes_baguette (that sTar) isn't as active in the fandom and wasn't going to be finishing it, he said i could do the honours! It's not much, but i KNow all u guys wanted was some smearing of that lipstick so thats what i gave u- enjoy !!
> 
> (apologies that it might feel a little disconnected from the other chapters since im a different author)

After the silence had become decidedly awkward, Pete set Sonny’s tea on the counter next to his legs and moved to lean beside him, deliberately not making eye contact. He was fighting a grin that threatened to split across his face at any second and something seemed to be bubbling at the base of his chest- Sonny thought he was hot? Could he even like him? He’d barely dared to entertain it as an option- and sure, Sonny’s words could mean nothing, he could just have been making an objective comment, but… the way he had blushed and stumbled over his words, it seemed like it could have been more than that. He hardly dared even to hope. Sonny was still sitting with his face hidden in his hands, not touching his mug. Pete blew on his own to cool it and stared at the wall opposite him, trying to think of a way to press the subject without being too obvious.  He could just let it slide. He’d been keeping his feelings hidden for months- their friendship was more than enough and Sonny meant so much to him- keeping their friendship as it was was hardly a problem, but if there was even a chance? If there was a possibility that Sonny felt the same way about him, was he really going to let the opportunity go?

He felt Sonny slowly reach and pick up his mug, and glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He too was staring straight ahead, his cheeks still flushed and his lip between his teeth, the look in his eyes one of mild panic. The tension was extremely uncomfortable; Pete couldn’t remember ever feeling this awkward around Sonny before- they’d always been so close. But how to break it? If Sonny didn’t want to talk any more about it, he wasn’t going to push him. He let the silence continue, examining the wall again.

After a minute, Sonny replaced his mug and shifted around slightly, and Pete turned to look at him. Sonny took a breath to say something but seemed to change his mind and shrank back again, brow furrowed- then after a few more seconds, tried again, but lost his nerve before a word left his mouth, and Pete took pity on him.

“Listen, dude, if you want to just forget about it-” he started, but Sonny shook his head and looked at him kind of desperately, bringing a hand up to shove some curls back under his hat.

“Nah, I- Look, I’m really sorry Pete I was out of line- ”

“Dude, I said it’s fine!” Moving to stand so he could face him, Pete replaced his mug on the counter and ducked his head down to catch Sonny’s eye. “Honestly. I’m flattered, and- I don’t want to push, but- If there’s anything you want to say…” He trailed off. He could almost _feel_ how tense Sonny was; he was staring his knees again with his teeth gritted, blush spreading down to his neck. Pete tried again, “If- If there’s anything-”

He was cut off sharply when Sonny grabbed his arm, pulled him forward, and kissed him.

_Fireworks._

Instinctively, Pete pushed forward and kissed him back, bringing one hand up to the back of his neck to tilt his head back, growing slightly giddy at the feeling of their lips pressed together- leaning in so that Sonny was pushed backwards slightly on the low counter. _Sonny was kissing him. Sonny. Kissing him._ As he felt Sonny’s nails dig into his jaw, he pushed his fingers through the curls at the base of his neck, tugging slightly, nudging against his lips with his tongue. Heat coiled in his stomach as Sonny dropped his jaw and he had to struggle to break himself away before things went too far; the guy he’d wanted for months kissing him hungrily and breathing heavily against his lips was nothing if not inviting and he’d have gladly done it for hours, but they had to talk about this. He couldn’t run the risk of a misunderstanding; until he knew what Sonny really wanted, he couldn’t let it continue. Reluctantly, he pulled away, feeling an odd tug in his chest when Sonny’s eyes stayed closed for a second and he noticed the red smudges across his lips. He blinked and then stared up at him, cheeks a brand new shade of red and eyes a little glazed. Resisting the urge to kiss him again and never stop was difficult. Pete searched for words, fighting an odd temptation to rub his mouth, and came up a little short.

“So. Uhh… So-” Sonny knocked his feet on the counter.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. Pete swallowed.

“Yeah. Uhh- So would you…” Why was it so hard to just ask? He’d just been kissing him for crying out loud, and it really didn’t seem like Sonny to be kissing someone he wasn’t interested in dating. Sonny was a romantic, from all Pete’s experience of him; he’d pretty much just guaranteed him a ‘yes’. But still, his voice caught in his throat, and the words sounded stupid as he said them. “Would you want to- to go on a date? Sometime? Or like- be a… thing?” Sonny raised his eyebrows.

“Smooth,” he said. But he was grinning, and he slid forward off the counter to stand in front of him. Pete brought a hand up to run across his scalp; he could feel heat rising in his own cheeks now, but… it hadn’t been a _no_.

“Hey, c’mon, I’m nervous,” he muttered. Sonny’s grin only grew wider.

“Yeah?”

“ _Yes._ God, you’re really gonna milk this, huh?”

“Absolutely.” Sonny beamed at him. “And yes. Yes, I would.”

“Right. Well. That’s- good, I-”

Once again, he was cut off by Sonny’s mouth on his. This time, Pete let himself get lost in it- dizzy with it, pulling Sonny closer with an arm around his waist and letting his tongue slip into his mouth. Sonny seemed just as enthusiastic, gripping his arms and leaning up into him, and Pete could feel his mouth stretching into a grin. After a minute, Sonny’s smile became so wide that they were really just bumping mouths, and he pulled away, moving to rest his forehead against Pete’s shoulder. Pete beamed and held his arms more tightly around Sonny’s waist, partly ensuring that he really was there- leaning against him and grinning against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Sonny mumbled. “M’just happy.”

“Me too.” Pete grinned. He pulled back slightly, smiling down at him. “Really happy.” Sonny’s broad smile was smeared even more than before with dark read, making him look dishevelled- almost _wrecked-_ and _Pete_ had done that. Shit.

“You’ve got a little- here.” He reached forward and used his thumb to wipe away some of the lipstick that had smeared beneath his bottom lip. Sonny laughed and held a hand up to his mouth,

“Oh shit, yeah, and you uh- you’ve got some smudges,” he said. “But, y’know. It’s pretty hot.”

“Yeah?” The same fierce, almost delirious happiness of before was bubbling up in his chest. The feeling was mirrored in Sonny’s face.

“I think I made my feelings on that front pretty clear.”

“Could say that.”

They stood for a few seconds, smiling stupidly at each other. Pete felt like bursting out laughing, or maybe just pushing Sonny back onto the counter again and kissing him until it was impossible to tell who had started out wearing more lipstick. That was definitely a tempting thought. And he _could_ do it- that thought made him want to turn cartwheels.

“If I’d known wearing makeup was gonna make me so irresistible, I definitely wouldn’t have put Daniela off it so long.” Laughing, Sonny pulled back from him, fiddling with his cap.

“Man, you know it. You really look good. Like, really.”

“Maybe I’ll start wearing it more often.” Sonny nodded quickly.

“ _God,_ yes. Though, is there such thing as like, anti-smudge lipstick? Cause-” he examined his fingers, which were smudged with red. “- you are pretty irresistible.”

“And miss the sight of this mess? I mean- excuse my gay- but you look-”

“Oh my _god-”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peter thats gay
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! This was fun to write!

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr is now [hhhercules-mulligan](http://www.hhhercules-mulligan.tumblr.com)


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